by K. L. Thorne
In an easier position, they kissed eagerly. Lori pulled away to take Lephas' bottom lip between her teeth, recalling how much she had enjoyed the noise he had made last time.
This time the demon had a trick up his sleeve. As she nipped at him, he rolled his hips firmly against her. Though she couldn't feel much through the thick winter gear both of them were wearing, he still somehow managed to press just the right spot.
Lori arched up and released his lip, an embarrassingly needy moan bursting from her before she could fight it.
With a breathless laugh, Lephas pulled his mouth from hers and latched onto her neck. Lori delighted at the roughness of the two-day stubble on his jaw as it grated against her.
Without Lephas's mouth covering hers, she was alarmed as yet more soft cries escaped her. She didn't ever recall this happening in previous intimate settings, but then she supposed they hadn't felt even remotely as good.
Lori rolled her hips insistently against the demon and ran a hand through the soft hair at the nape of his neck.
He sighed against her and suckled the delicate skin at the side of her throat. Lori craned her neck back to give him better access. She bit her lip hard, refusing to make any more shameful noises.
Cracking her eyes open, it took her a moment to focus. A small mottled brown rabbit sat a distance away behind them, obliviously picking at the crumbs of biscuit they had laid down. Though reluctant to interrupt their moment, Lori jolted into full awareness.
“Rabbit!” she whispered urgently.
“Hm? Lephas murmured against her neck.
“There's a rabbit!” She untangled her legs from around his waist.
“A what?” He raised his head and looked at her questioningly.
“A rabbit! In the trap!” She laughed and pointed in the direction of the bait. There was a moment's hesitation before realisation hit and Lephas leapt to his feet, clearly forgetting his broken rib.
“Shit!” His handsome face contorted with pain, but he hurled himself down the slope towards the clearing.
Lori barely contained her laughter as she rolled up onto her knees to watch the demon crashing through the undergrowth. The commotion was more than enough to spook to poor rabbit. It shot off at great speed, right towards one of the snare traps.
Lori looked away with a pained wince.
CHAPTER NINE
The rabbit hadn't stood a chance.
Lephas knelt and carefully untangled the small creature from the snare. At least it had been a quick demise and that was the most any of them could ask for.
It wasn't the biggest rabbit he had ever caught, but beggars couldn't be choosers. It was better than going hungry.
“Got one!” Lephas shouted out to the faerie girl.
“Oh, no! Don't show me. I don't want to see it.” she wailed from back at their hiding spot.
“Whose side are you on here?” He laughed, brushing the snow from the still-warm fur. He strode back up the incline towards her, rabbit in hand.
“Let's put some more biscuits down overnight. We might be able to catch another one, hopefully a bit bigger. That'll come in handy for keeping us going tomorrow.”
Lori locked eyes with him for a moment. Her cheeks were still flushed and hair slightly dishevelled. Lephas coughed into his fist and averted his gaze, turning his back before the girl saw his smug smile.
He had never been with a woman who made the kind of noises the faerie had been making, not whilst still fully clothed at least.
He didn't even try to keep his mind from imaging what she would be like, writhing underneath him naked, with her–
No, no - definitely not a safe train of thought!
Lephas shifted uncomfortably in his thick leathers. Had these things always been so constrictive? He had never noticed it before.
At least there was no doubt left in his mind that Lori was enjoying his attentions. He liked that. Generally, when it came to these kinds of situations, Lephas was plagued with self-doubt. It made him feel good to be certain.
Real good.
They had waited all afternoon for that damn rabbit and it chose that exact moment to show up? Lephas scowled at the bundle of fur in his hand.
He shook himself. He would get another chance, that he was sure of now. He'd had a few opportunities to sample what Lori was offering and he was curious to see how far she would let him go. She definitely seemed keen. It was exciting.
“So, what are you going to do with the poor little thing now?” Lori asked.
“Do you really want to know?”
She grimaced. “No, I don't. I guess we just need to find somewhere to settle down for the night?”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I doubt we'll be as lucky as we were last night. It might be a case of using some of the equipment to make a lean-to.”
“That doesn't sound so bad,” Lori said, rolling up the mattress and strapping it to the pack once more.
“It'll be cold,” Lephas warned. “We'll be a bit more open to the elements, even if we manage to find a nice sheltered spot.”
“I'm sure you'll keep me warm.” Lori shot him a sultry look.
“I might be able to manage that,” Lephas responded simply, enjoying the momentary surprise on the faerie's face before she managed to school her expression.
“Well let's get going then.” Lori grinned and handed him the travel bag.
“Hold this a minute...” Lephas held out the dead rabbit. For a split second, the faerie blindly obeyed him and held out her hands before checking to see what he was about to give her. Her eyes widened as realisation hit.
“Oh! No-no-no!” she squealed and leapt away.
Lephas laughed. He clutched his side, the pain doing little to dim his mirth.
Lori playfully punched his arm. “That was mean!”
“It's only a rabbit, you wuss.” He teased, carefully heaving the bag onto his back.
“A dead one!”
Lephas just smirked before leading them ahead through the forest. He heard the faerie jog forwards to catch up with him and she slipped her hand into his – the one without the dead rabbit in it, naturally.
Lephas decided to allow it and silently gripped her dainty hand in return. A wave of strange, masculine pride washed over him. He wasn't accustomed to having a woman he needed to care for and protect. It called to some primal urge he hadn't been aware he had.
The same urge that had him eagerly awaiting the next opportunity he had to get on top of her. He felt like a teenager again, never had he been so keen to get someone into bed.
“Are you alright? You look deep in thought,” Lori asked.
“Yeah, I'm fine.” Lephas smiled to himself, looking away.
The faerie gazed up at the sky. “It looks like it might snow again later.”
She was right, the vast blue sky from earlier that morning was steadily growing grey once more.
“It won't matter, we'll camp up soon. I'll light us a fire this evening - I think we're probably far enough now that it'll be safe. Besides, I'm going to need to cook this rabbit as soon as possible.”
They walked onwards, hand in hand, struggling through the deep snow. The demon's side ached him constantly. Short spikes of pain radiated from the injury whenever he moved too quickly or slipped, jerking himself suddenly.
Lephas didn't want to go too far from those snare traps. He made a mental note to head back down to check if they had caught anything else the next day.
At last, he spotted a suitable camp spot. It was nice and flat, nestled between two large exposed tree roots. He would be able to use one of those roots to attach the one side of the lean-to, the other would block any wind that may pick up.
Now the sky had clouded over, it was hard to tell what time of day it was but Lephas's growling stomach told him it must be at least late afternoon. He had barely eaten anything for days and it was starting to take its toll.
“Can you start searching that snow around the base of the tree?” he asked
Lori, dropping the bag to fish out a large waxed sheet he knew was folded neatly at the bottom.
“Sure, why?”
“That's where we're going to camp. Just make sure there's no stones or anything underneath where we'll sleep,” he instructed, pulling the sheet free.
Lephas shook it out and measured it up mentally. It should just about reach. He dug through a side pocket of the bag. Inside were some specially designed hooks that would attach the sheet to whatever he chose to screw them into and some heavy-duty metal tent pegs.
The wood of the tree should be soft enough that he would be able to get them in by hand, but it was going to be a bitch hammering those pegs in with the ground so hard.
He took two hooks, one for each corner of the sheet, and trudged around to the far side of the tree. After a bit of fumbling, his cold fingers not as dextrous as they usually were, the commander managed to screw the metal deeply into the bark. He hooked the small holes in the material over the ends before walking back around.
He scanned his eyes around the snow.
“What are you looking for?” Lori asked curiously.
“A heavy enough stone to hammer these pegs into the ground with.” His boot hit something solid and he knelt to dig it out.
“Ah ha.” He pulled a rock free triumphantly. Lephas grabbed the loose end of the sheet and pulled it taught. Carefully he held one of the pegs between his thumb and forefinger and brought the rock down heavily on top of it.
As he had predicted, it was hard work. He had to apply a lot of force, but steadily the peg began to sink into the frozen earth. The snowy rock slipped from his grasp and landed painfully on the hand that was steadying the peg.
“Fuck me!” he hissed and shook his bruised hand.
Lori snorted, a smirk fighting its way onto her face.
“It's not funny,” Lephas protested but was unable to stop himself from grinning back at her.
He cautiously continued to hammer the peg into the ground. Once he was satisfied, he moved onto the second peg and repeated his actions. He tested the structure by pressing down on the taught waxed sheet, pleased when it held.
Lephas turned his attention to a patch of snow just outside the cover of the sheet. He would build a fire here. He carefully dug a small hole in the snow, forming a kind of fire pit. The demon got to his feet and, flipping his knife open, headed to the large tree they were using for shelter.
Its bark was mostly dry where the sun had gotten to it earlier in the day and it flaked away in big chunks. It would make an excellent fire starter. Some of the low, thin branches snapped off easily in his hands. They were brittle, which meant they would be dry enough to light.
Lephas carefully built the beginnings of a small fire. He lay the branches down in a hatch formation and dug through his pockets for his matches.
Thankfully they were still bone-dry, a testament to his expensive winter gear. He struck one and lowered the lit match to the bark he had gathered.
It took a moment, but the materials began to smoke and caught alight. Lephas allowed the air to get to the small flames that flickered, desperately trying to stay lit. He leant in and carefully blew against it. The commander breathed a sigh of relief as the fire gradually took hold.
“Come here and keep an eye on the fire. If it looks like it's struggling, put a piece of bark on and fan some air in there.” He motioned Lori over.
“Sure, what are you doing?” she asked, settling beside the growing fire. The princess poked at it with a thin twig, encouraging the blaze to grow. She was really getting into this survivalist thing, Lephas mused with a smile.
“I'm going to skin the rabbit.”
Predictably, Lori shot him a grimace and he grinned back at her.
“Rabbits don't run around pre-roasted I'm afraid. This is how they get to your jewel-encrusted feast tables, Princess,” he retorted.
“I know, but... I don't want to see it. I have a sensitive stomach.” She shook her head and screwed up her nose.
Lephas just rolled his eyes playfully and sat down in the snow with the rabbit splayed out in front of him. He wiped his knife off on his sleeve before getting to work. The sky was already darkening to dusk. He needed to get this done before he lost the light.
“So, how did you learn how to do all these things? Skinning rabbits, starting fires...” Lori asked. She sat with her back turned to him, no doubt so she didn't have to watch him skin and gut the rabbit.
“My father taught me,” Lephas answered. He sliced a small hole in the skin at the back of the rabbit's neck and grabbed the fur on either side of the opening. He pulled firmly, removing the rabbit's coat steadily.
“You've never spoken about your family. Where are they? Back in Banesteppe?” the faerie asked curiously.
“In a sense. There are no living members of it left, but they are all buried just outside of Banesteppe.”
“Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked.”
“It's alright, it was a long time ago,” Lephas replied. “My father made sure he taught me all he knew before he went to fight in the rebellion war after King Tennul fell. He knew I would have to look after and provide for my mother whilst he was gone.”
“How old were you? If you don't mind my asking.”
“I was thirteen when we got the news that he had died. For a long time, it was just my mother and I, but she slipped and cut her leg when she was out in the woods one day. The wound got infected and she died about a week later. I didn't have any reason to stay at home once they were both gone, so I signed up to serve King Zelrus.”
“You don't have any brothers or sisters?”
The commander laughed, chopping the feet, tail and head from the rabbit. “Not in the conventional sense. My best friend, Oriel, lived with us for a while. He's probably as close to a brother as I could get.”
“Oriel... I know that name. Have you mentioned him before?”
“He's the reason we're here; Haros and I work for him. He's the king's older brother.”
“That's right, I remember now. Wait, Oriel is older? How does that work?” The horrors of skinning rabbits clearly forgotten, Lori turned to look at him questioningly.
Lephas smiled at her, enjoying seeing her falter with surprise before returning a shy smile.
“Oriel is the eldest, but he's not a full-blooded demon.” Lephas dropped his eyes back to the rabbit meat in his hands. He slit carefully down the animal’s stomach before reaching inside to pull the organs free.
“So, some of you are half-breeds! What's he mixed with?”
“Faerie,” Lephas replied, fighting a smile at the array of emotions on Lori's face.
“Faerie? I... I didn't know that was possible,” Lori mused, looking mildly alarmed.
“It's very possible. I know a few demons that are half-faerie. Your father may hate us, but not all of his people share his convictions.”
“Well, I'm glad you told me that. That's definitely something to consider before...” She trailed off, staring into space thoughtfully. “So, because Oriel is half-faerie he can't be king?”
“Oriel gets a lot of hassle for who, or rather what, he is. He chose not to pursue the throne because he didn't feel he could win the demon people over. Zelrus is a full-blooded demon, so he knew he'd get the peoples’ respect unquestioningly.”
“That's not right. I don't blame your people for hating mine, but it seems senseless to hate someone for something they had no choice over,” the faerie said thoughtfully.
“Whilst the demons wouldn't follow a half-blood king, they do not generally hate your kind, Lori. Some of your people that have chosen to live in Banesteppe or visit regularly to help the needy... Your father's brother, Cirro, is one of them. Surely you know this?”
“I haven't seen my uncle for many years. I was probably only a child the last time he came to the castle. He and my father don't see eye to eye either, unsurprisingly.” Lori smirked.
“I'd gathered that might be the case. Cirro has spent a
lot of time with the demon people. They respect him and are grateful for his charity. You wouldn't be stoned in the street for being a faerie, but you're going to have a hard time winning anyone over because of your father.”
Lori's face fell. “Trust me, you have no idea how much I wish I wasn't his daughter. Especially over these last few days. So why have you been so kind to me? You knew who I was right from the start but you've never been cruel to me.”
“Perhaps I'm just more understanding. I know the king personally and my best friend is a half-faerie. I guess I'm not as narrow-minded as most. Besides, my mother often told me that the people it’s difficult to be kind to probably need it the most.”
“A wise woman.” Lori turned away, but not before Lephas had seen her sorrowful expression. “My mother is much more of a 'look out for number one' sort.”
“I haven't heard you talk about her. Queen Johanna, isn't it?” Lephas probed. The rabbit was now dressed with all the undesirable bits removed and piled neatly to his side. He dug a deep hole in the snow and quickly buried them. Left out, they would attract unwanted visitors.
“That's right but honestly she isn't much of a mother. My sisters and I have a better relationship with some of our servants than we have with our own mother. She spends a lot of her time at my father's side, ever the trophy wife,” Lori replied bitterly.
“What does she think of your father's actions?” he asked carefully. This was all good information, but he didn't want to overstep.
“Honestly? I don't think she cares,” the princess replied. “She supports any decision that gains her the most wealth. If being kind and charitable to demons would make her rich, I'm sure she would endeavour to do it.”
“We don't hear much news about her.”
Lori snorted. “Neither did I and I lived in the same castle. My sisters and I may have fallen out from between her legs, but that's about as close to a mother as she ever got to us.”
“The rabbit is ready. I need to get a spit for it and then we're good to go.” Lephas changed the subject, sensing Lori's growing ire.
“You're going to spit on it?” Lori looked at him, horrified.